Fantasy Trophy Season: Write 2026 as MMXXVI, Not LX

October 2026 is the point in the fantasy football calendar when many leagues are either locked into the playoff push or preparing for it. If you are a commissioner who has to order a championship trophy, update a keeper-league plaque or approve a custom 3D-printed plate, you will likely be asked for the season year in Roman numerals. The correct answer for 2026 is MMXXVI, not the LX that appears in Super Bowl branding. Taking a few minutes to confirm the exact string can prevent an expensive re-engraving.

Super Bowl LX is an edition, not a season

Sporting News published an explainer on Super Bowl LX and the Roman numeral for 2026. In the base notation used for trophy engraving, L stands for 50 and X stands for 10. Those two glyphs add up to 60, which is why LX refers to the game's edition number rather than the calendar year. A commissioner who copies only the LX mark from official social posts or news graphics may end up with a plate that records 60 instead of the season. The distinction matters because a trophy plate should communicate the season year, not the event branding.

How MMXXVI is built from base glyphs

Roman numerals use seven base glyphs: I is 1, V is 5, X is 10, L is 50, C is 100, D is 500 and M is 1000. For 2026, the conversion breaks into two Ms for the thousands, two Xs for the tens, a V for five, and an I for one. The full sum is M (1000) plus M (1000) plus X (10) plus X (10) plus V (5) plus I (1), which totals 2026. The Danish-language resource Romertal displays the same result with the glyph-by-glyph breakdown, making it a useful pointer for fantasy sports fans who want to see the conversion online.

Common mistakes when engraving

When a plate text is compressed or handwritten, a missed glyph is the main risk. Leave out one of the two Xs and the value falls by ten; transpose the letters and the number changes. The correct order is M, M, X, X, V, I, with no punctuation or ordinal suffix. If you are working from a screenshot of a previous plate, check the number of Xs specifically, because that is the most likely place for an accidental drop. In a narrow script font, an X can look like a V or a stroke can disappear, so it is worth previewing the full string at the intended size before sending the file to production.

Use a converter as a quick check

Modern years like 2026 are well within the 1-to-3999 range that standard Roman numeral converters handle. Type 2026 and confirm the output is MMXXVI; if the tool supports reverse direction, type MMXXVI and confirm it returns 2026. This two-way check catches errors that a visual scan can miss, especially when the text has come from a screenshot where a glyph is cut off or from a handwritten note that uses a narrow X. A quick search for "2026 in Roman numerals" can deliver the same output, but the important step is to look at the returned glyphs rather than trusting only the Arabic number in a preview.

What to send to the engraver

When you approve a 3D-printed or engraved plate in late October 2026, send the manufacturer the text as six separate glyphs: M, M, X, X, V, I. Keep that order, with no dot after the final I and no abbreviation such as MMXXVIth. Confirm that the plate reads MMXXVI and not LX, because LX adds up to 60 and belongs to the NFL title designation, not to the season-year line. For keeper leagues with multiple years on one plaque, verify each year separately, because a single wrong glyph can make the whole plate read differently.